This invention relates to a method and apparatus for limiting the environmental effects of a campfire and, more particularly, to a campfire shield blanket for shielding a surface on which a campfire is built.
Recent years have seen a tremendous growth in the popularity of outdoor recreation, such as backpacking and river rafting. This increased popularity, however, has lead to overuse of camping sites within many environmentally sensitive areas. One of the most damaging effects of this overuse is campfires. People tend to camp in the choicest spots and build fires in the same site, such as in a depression made in the soil or within a fire ring of assembled rocks. The result in the past has been an undesirable accumulation of ash and charcoal that poisons the soil and water. The remains of the fire also ruin the natural condition of the campsite by blackening the rocks and surrounding surfaces.
To limit the effects of campfires in these sensitive areas, state and federal authorities now prohibit the building of campfires directly on the ground surface and within fire rings. Fires can only be built on a pan or other flat object that physically shields the surface from the campfire. Most people have complied by simply using a metal sheet upon which they build the fire. Metal sheets and other metal containers, however, have a number of drawbacks. They are bulky, heavy, and hard to carry, especially for backpackers having limited space and strength. They become dirty quickly and are thereafter difficult to handle. The ash from a fire built on a metal container smears the metal surface and leaves residues which can easily soil the clothing packed around it. The containers are also dangerous. The metal quickly absorbs heat from the fire and can burn an unwary camper who attempts to move the metal sheet before it has cooled.
Given these drawbacks, it is likely that many people will ignore the laws and build fires illegally without a protective covering for the ground surface. The prior art thus leads to an impossible enforcement situation and fails to solve the campfire problem. A need therefore exists for a portable, simple means for shielding the surface from the effects of a campfire.